Larry\’s Comics sells a series of exclusive comic variant covers promoting titles he feels are hot or up-and-coming for the comic industry. Soon after Skullkickers #1 came out he contacted Image about getting a variant produced for his store. Usually the variants are just line art or recoloured versions of the regular issue\’s cover but we wanted to make sure SK stood out, so Edwin and colorist Espen Grundetjern put together this eye-catching new cover piece:

If you live in the Boston area we\’d be thrilled to meet you at the show! Besides signing autographs and chatting it up with comic fans, we\’ll be looking for a piece of pin-up art featuring the Skullkickers to spotlight in issue 5 (arriving in stores late January).

HIGH FANTASY AT A LOW PRICEFirst volume of SKULLKICKERS will sell for only $9.99!

Berkeley, CA – 16 December 2010 – What would you pay a couple of mercenaries to crack some skulls?! In March 2011, you can take a couple of the baddest monster-mashing mercenaries home for the low price of $9.99!

SKULLKICKERS, the new skull-smashing hit series from Image Comics, is getting its first collection. Written by Jim Zubkavich with art by Edwin Huang, Chris Stevens and Misty Coats, the SKULLKICKERS, VOL. 1: 1000 OPAS AND A DEAD BODY TP will collect the first five issues of the ongoing series along with the short stories from POPGUN, VOLS. 2 and 3.

\”We\’re having so much fun making this book,\” says Zubkavich. \”We wanted to make it easy for new readers to join the adventure and to be ready to dig in to the next story arc that begins with issue #7. At the same time this is also a special \’thank you\’ to the fans who have supported us so far.\”

Image Publisher Eric Stephenson adds, \”People are always lamenting the lack of \’fun\’ comics in today\’s market, but Jim & co. have come up with a great formula for SKULLKICKERS that combines high adventure with humor for a violent romp through a well-worn genre they clearly love, but never take too seriously. Every issue is a blast!\”

SKULLKICKERS is an action-packed series that turns fantasy tropes on their ears. Two nameless monster-killing mercenaries are caught up in an assassination plot and won\’t let anything get in their way. Each issue released so far has gone through multiple printings and the series has accumulated rave reviews from readers and critics alike. At $9.99, this collection is a great way to discover the excitement or find an issue you missed the first time around!

SKULLKICKERS, VOL. 1: 1000 OPAS AND A DEAD BODY, a 144-page full-color trade collecting the first five issues of the action-packed series along with the POPGUN anthology tales, will be in stores March 9, 2011, for the amazing introductory price of $9.99. Keep up with the exploits of our heroes at www.skullkickers.com.

Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.